


Home Is Where Love Is

by shiro_yuu



Series: IwaOi Week 2017 [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adult Life, Aged-Up Character(s), Established Relationship, F/F, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, past homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 05:46:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10780806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiro_yuu/pseuds/shiro_yuu
Summary: Life isn't easy, but as long as they have each other Iwaizumi and Oikawa can make it through.IwaOi Week 2017:College/Immortality





	Home Is Where Love Is

**Author's Note:**

> Can you hear in the distance the sound of all my WIPs yelling at me for starting a new Week instead of updating them?  
> Yep, me too. But lets pretend we don't.
> 
> Well, IwaOi Week is here! I hope y'all stick with me for another week!

The first day of the semester is always complicated, but being also his first day at his new job, it’s not a mistake to say that Iwaizumi is a nervous wreck. Iwaizumi has being a college professor for almost ten years already, but he still hates this kind of situation. But he’s an adult, so he sucks it up and enters the university building.

After talking with the dean, Iwaizumi walks to the professors’ room to wait for his first class. He hopes on meeting some of his new coworkers, because Iwaizumi is a friendly person and he’s not comfortable in not knowing people he’ll be around five days per week.

“I’m telling you, dude, goats are spies from the government!”, Iwaizumi hears someone says when he opens the door.

“This makes no sense whatsoever.”, a man with short dark brown hair says.

“Kuroo would agree with me!”, a man with silver hair says.

“Good morning…”, Iwaizumi says slowly, not knowing if he should interrupt the conversation.

“This just means you’re completely crazy.”, the man with brown hair answer before turning his face to smiles to Iwaizumi. “Hello! You’re the new professor, right?”, he asks, getting up from his chair and walking towards Iwaizumi.

“Hi.”, Iwaizumi smiles back. “Yes. I’m Iwaizumi Hajime, nice to meet you.”

“Sawamura Daichi.”, the man with brown hair introduces himself. “Nice to meet you too.”

“I’m Bokuto Koutaro!”, the man with silver hair says, jumping up from the couch and walking to Iwaizumi with long steps. “What’s your field?”

“Physics. I’m a particle physics.”, Iwaizumi smiles, taking out his passenger bag from his shoulder and placing it on the table.

“Yes! Science field!”, Bokuto chirps happily. “I’m a chemical engineer! Don’t listen to him”, he says while pointing to Sawamura, “He’s a Law professor, so he knows nothing about the world.”

Iwaizumi breathes out a laugh when he sees Sawamura painfully rolling his eyes. “Where’s Kenma when we need him?”, Sawamura asks. “Anyways, welcome to the university! The students are cool, but the coffee is awful.”

“Really awful.”, Bokuto nods. “Like… It’s probably poisoned or something. Don’t drink that.”

“Thank you.”, Iwaizumi smiles again. “And thank you for the warning.”

“If you want good coffee, you should go to the coffee shop down the street, the one with green awning.”, Bokuto says, leaning against the back of the black leather couch. “Also it takes fifteen minutes to walk from here to our side of the building, and you should avoid the bridge of the second floor, it’s always crowded. Huh… What’s more?”, he frowns, thoughtful.

“Maybe you should let him breathe.”, someone suggests and Iwaizumi startles with the bored tone. “Hi, I’m Kenma.”, a small man with bad dyed hair introduces himself. 

“Hi, I’m Iwaizumi.”, Iwaizumi smiles at the man, who nods in acknowledgement.

“Welcome to this madness.”, Kenma calmly says before walking to the couch.

-

Iwaizumi’s classes through the day go well, because since it’s the first day most part of them is as awkward as him. He talks a bit about himself to the students, explaining the he had coming from Miyagi and that he’s still getting used to the city, but that he hopes that he can have good experiences there; his students get excited about this and start to give him suggestion about what he can do in Tokyo and Iwaizumi enjoys the warmth of the reception. 

He has his lunch at the professors’ room with the others, noticing that beside himself and the three professors he had met early, all the others are older. So he naturally falls in place with Bokuto, Daichi and Kenma, which isn’t a problem for him since the three men are funny and good to be with.

Against everything his nerves were making him think, his first day at Toudai goes completely well.

-

A big sigh leaves Iwaizumi’s lips once he finally steps inside his apartment, toeing off his shoes at the genkan and padding to the living room. The apartment is silent and dark, cold because of the autumn weather. Iwaizumi sighs again, stretching his arms over his head because public transportation in Tokyo is a living proof that hell exists and his entire body hurts because of the cramped train. 

It’s just nine pm and Iwaizumi is already yawning as he walks to the bedroom to grab some clothes and so he can take a shower. He had completely forgot that the light has burnt this morning and that he was supposed to stop by the konbini to buy a new one, so he stays inside the dark bathroom, clicking the switch over and over again as if this would make the light magically work again.

“Fuckin shit.”, he growls to the darkness, walking to the bedroom again to grab his phone so he can use the flashlight to light up the bathroom while he takes a quick shower, because his stomach is too empty for him to bother about taking a bath.

After his shower, Iwaizumi walks only in sweatpants to the kitchen to make something easy to eat. He’s not the most amazing cooker in the world, but he’s living alone since he finished his graduation, so he can work his way on the kitchen. He opts for making gyudon because it’s easy and quick.

Iwaizumi sits down on the couch to watch TV while eating, not putting much effort on finding something good because he’s honestly too tired for this.

It’s almost eleven when Iwaizumi hears the door being unlocked and opened. He lays his head back on the back of the cream colored couch, watching as his fiancé takes off his jacket and hang it on the locker by the door.

“Too cold outside?”, Iwaizumi asks as Oikawa walks to the living room while rubbing his hands to warm them up.

“Yeah. I should’ve brought a warmer jacket.”, Oikawa sighs, leaning over Iwaizumi to kiss his lips. “You better not had put your cold water glass directly on my wood table.”, he whispers and Iwaizumi grimaces. 

“Shit.”, Iwaizumi mumbles, leaning to the table to grab his glass, hearing Oikawa chuckling behind him. 

“We have coasters, Hajime.”, Oikawa says, walking to the bedroom.

“It’s just a table, Tooru.”, Iwaizumi complains, getting up to put his dishes on the sink and warm up the gyudon again.

“We can’t have a table with stains!”, Oikawa says from inside the apartment. “You didn’t bought the lamp, did you?”, he asks after a couple minutes, annoyed.

“I was working!”, Iwaizumi defends himself, washing his bowl.

“Where’s your phone?”, Oikawa asks, already searching for it on the living room.

“What’s for?”, Iwaizumi asks, looking to his fiancé from over his shoulder. “Probably on the TV hack.”

“Because I’m using your flashlight.”, Oikawa simply says, grabbing the phone.

“You have your own!”, Iwaizumi complains and Oikawa pokes his tongue at him. “Spoiled brat.”, Iwaizumi grumbles, turning back to wash the dishes.

Iwaizumi finishes washing the dishes, walking back to the couch to finish the movie he was watching before. Oikawa joins him after a while on the small two seat couch, bowl with steaming hot gyudon in hands and glass of juice neatly placed over one of his UFO format coasters.

“How was your first day?”, Oikawa asks, passing his long legs over Iwaizumi’s.

“Good. The place is huge.”, Iwaizumi says, absently caressing Oikawa’s thigh. “My coworkers seem to be nice too.”

“That’s good.”, Oikawa smiles. 

“And yours? How are things going in the lab?”, Iwaizumi asks, turning his face to look at his soon-to-be husband.

“Ah, you know how it is. They are ok with but it’s not like they really trust me. Most part of them think I’m too young to be on the position I’m occupying.”, Oikawa shrugs dismissively. “Eventually they’ll get used to it.”

“You’ll show them that you’re awesome in what you do.”, Iwaizumi smiles, because Oikawa is an amazing biochemist, with a huge amount of articles published and a good name in the field.

Oikawa hums happily, eating his food in satisfied silence while watching TV. They go to bed close to midnight, Iwaizumi falling face first on the mattress while Oikawa turns off the lights on the apartment. Oikawa crawls on the bed, lying down on his side and hugging Iwaizumi, pulling him closer. Iwaizumi grunts some nothings, yawning and snuggling against Oikawa, their height difference being just enough to Oikawa’s lips stay against Iwaizumi’s forehead so he can breathe against Iwaizumi’s short hair. 

-

“Professor, is this a wedding ring?”, one of Iwaizumi’s students, a young girl on her fourth period called Kuinichi Sora, asks in the end of the class one Friday night almost two month after the beginning of the semester.

For the past forty-five days Iwaizumi have been creating a good relationship with his students, from the younger ones to the ones that are about to graduate. They’re easy to deal and surprisingly engaged to learn, but the question catches Iwaizumi off guard and he stares dumbly at the ring on his right hand for almost a whole minute before blinking himself back to reality.

“Actually it’s a engagement one.”, Iwaizumi answers with a calm, trained smile.

“Ohhh!”, the group of students around his table breathes in unison.

“I bet she’s super hot.”, one of the boys, Matsumoto Ryutaro, exclaims and Iwaizumi snorts.

“She probably cooks really well too.”, Sora suggests and the others nod.

“Why you think that?”, Iwaizumi asks, holding back his laugh.

“Because you’re super… Super…”, Suzuki Miko, the girl who is doing this subject for the second time, starts. “Super… Huh…”, she frowns, apparently not finding the right word.

“The word you’re searching for is ‘hot’, Suzuki.”, Ryutaro says and Miko blushes.

“I was about to say ‘healthy’!”, Miko mumbles and Iwaizumi laughs more.

“Ok, enough.”, Iwaizumi says, getting up and passing his bag strap over his head, adjusting it on his shoulder. “Let’s go, I’m tired of this classroom already.”

Iwaizumi leads the group of students, six of them, out of the classroom and down the hall. The students keep creating theories about Iwaizumi’s “hot fiancée”, going from “being a super model” to “maybe she’s a mermaid”. Iwaizumi chuckles here and there, not confirming or denying any of the nonsense his student’s come with. The group passes through the bridge connecting the buildings, parting ways once they get to the main stairway. 

“Have a nice weekend, professor!”, the students yell as they walk down the stairs and Iwaizumi waves his hand at them.

“Behave.”, he says before walking to the professors’ room.

When he enters the now well know place, he easily spots Kenma and Sawamura talking on the corner of the room. He walks towards them after he places his class diary inside his locker.

“Hey, Iwaizumi.”, Sawamura grins, patting Iwaizumi’s shoulder blade.

“Hey.”, Iwaizumi smiles and Kenma nods at him, because Kenma is a quiet person that doesn’t talk much.

“Plans for the weekend?”, Sawamura asks and Iwaizumi shrugs.

“Not really. I’ll probably stay at home.”, Iwaizumi says, because it’s getting colder and Oikawa doesn’t deal well with cold weather.

“Well, we’re waiting for Bokuto so we can all go drink something. Wanna go with us?”, Sawamura invites and Iwaizumi is always surprised by the man’s friendliness. 

“Oh, I can’t.”, Iwaizumi sighs. “I really wish I could, but Friday nights are film nights for us.”, he says and the other two nod.

Iwaizumi knows both Sawamura and Kenma are married, and that Bokuto is engaged, so he isn’t surprised when they understand without asking further. Iwaizumi hasn’t told anyone about being married to a man, because he’s afraid of what people’s reaction might be. He and Oikawa has a deal that they can act as if in a straight relationship if they feel the need of it, and Iwaizumi isn’t comfortable enough yet to break the fact that he’s in a gay relationship.

He waits for Bokuto to appear and they four walk together to the station. Iwaizumi say goodbye to his coworkers once they get inside the trains station because his train is in a different platform, but he promises Bokuto that he’ll talk to his significant other about going out with them one day. Once inside the train, squeezed between workers from all kind of jobs, Iwaizumi allows himself to think about the situation.

They were deep inside the closet back in Sendai, because they knew everyone in the city since they had been born and raised there. Their relationship had always been a secret, both of them well aware that people reaction wouldn’t be as good as they wished. Things worked for years like that until Iwaizumi asked Oikawa to marry him. Oikawa, of course, accepted and in a moment of blind happiness posted a picture of them in a restaurant in one of his social medias, one single hashtag being enough to ruin the life they were used to have. Oikawa was disconnected from the company he was working for, the lab not wanting to have its image linked to “something like that” and Iwaizumi was “gently invited” to leave the university he has worked for the past seven years by the end of the semester. 

They had two and a half month to find out what to do with their life. They lost almost all their friends, Mattsun and Makki being the only ones that stayed by their side since both of them knew since high school that they were together. Iwaizumi’s relationship with his family got cold, because they didn’t accept the relationship but at the same time they didn’t cut their ties with him, they just distanced themselves from Iwaizumi. Oikawa’s mother had a bad reaction, completely shutting down any form of communication. Oikawa’s sister, Haru, was the only person that stayed by their side, sheltering them when the landlord decided to quick them from the apartment they shared, cutting relationship with anyone that dared to talk bad about them. Takeru, Oikawa’s nephew, lost friends at school too and this hurt Oikawa more than anything, but the boy didn’t even flinch when talking about it, protecting his uncle from his mean classmates in a way that he had been sent to the principal two times for fighting with other students. 

The decision of moving away from Miyagi was made because, beside being easier to find job on other provinces, both Oikawa and Iwaizumi wanted to give peace to Oikawa’s sister and her family; they both believe that being away from their city would help to make people forget about them and Haru, Takeru and Hiroto, Haru’s husband, would eventually go back into their routines. Oikawa found a job at a lab in Tokyo, he would make less money but at least it was a job, so they moved to the capital right after the holidays. 

For the first three months Iwaizumi couldn’t find a job, so they lived in a small studio apartment really far from Oikawa’s job. The place was old and barely fitted all their things, but they managed to make a home out of it. Iwaizumi’s first job in the city was as a teacher in a preparatory course for college entrance exam, his paycheck being good enough to release some of the pressure of supply the house financially from over Oikawa’s shoulder and after a while they managed to find a better place to live. It was only when the summer break was about to end that Iwaizumi was called from one of the universities he applied for to a job interview. 

Even though Oikawa never fell or broke, even though Oikawa remained smiling and being optimistic, even though Oikawa never voiced the dark thoughts that still are inside his head, Iwaizumi still knows Oikawa isn’t well. He sees the way Oikawa enters their house with drooping shoulders, walking as the weight of the world is attached to his back. He sees Oikawa staring thoughtfully through the window for hours when he thinks Iwaizumi is still sleeping, his features neutral but his eyes haunted by a heavy rain. He sees and knows that Oikawa has a deep pulsing wound that isn’t healing and the fact that Oikawa doesn’t allow him to get close enough to try and take care of it keeps Iwaizumi grounded to his own open wound.

-

Oikawa is already at home when Iwaizumi enters their apartment, and Iwaizumi only notices it because of the smell of rice being made, because the apartment is immersed in darkness, not even a single light on.

“Tooru?”, Iwaizumi calls, toeing off his shoes and walking to the living room while searching for the light switch on the wall.

He turns the lights on, finding Oikawa asleep on the couch, his body folded in a weird shape since he fell asleep on his stomach. Iwaizumi blinks confused, because there’s no way in hell, heaven or earth that someone can comfortably sleep like that. He walks to the couch, tapping Oikawa’s ass a few times until Oikawa grunts something.

“Wake up, you weird snake.”, Iwaizumi says, pinching Oikawa’s buttock.

“Iwa-chan!”, Oikawa whines, curling up on the couch, his hands on his butt. Iwaizumi smiles at the old nickname.

“Wake up.”, he repeats before walking to their bedroom to find comfortable clothes to wear after his bath.

When Iwaizumi walks out of the bathroom half of an hour later, Oikawa is in the kitchen frying chicken. Iwaizumi hangs his towel on the back of the chair, walking to inside the kitchen and opening the fridge to grab one of his beers.

“Wanna drink?”, he asks, closing the fridge.

“Just a little bit.”, Oikawa says and Iwaizumi nods, grabbing two glasses and filling them with beer, one completely and the other until half of its length.

“What are you cooking?”, he asks, handing Oikawa his glass.

“Chicken with shoyu sauce.”, Oikawa answers, hitting his glass lightly against Iwaizumi before drinking sip of the cold beer. “How was class today?”

“Great. My students think I’m engaged to a mermaid.”, Iwaizumi says and Oikawa snorts.

“Well… I’m pretty sure I could lure you to the depth of the sea.”, Oikawa says, handing his half-empty glass back to Iwaizumi since he needs his free hand to hold the fry pan while taking the chicken pieces out of the oil.

“You wish.”, Iwaizumi snorts. “You would end up trapped in a fishing net and other mermaids would have to rescue you. You’re already clumsy having legs and arms, you with a tail would be a nightmare”, he says and Oikawa chuckles, not even trying to defend himself because all the accusations are true.

“Can you set up the table, please?”, Oikawa asks.

“Sure.”, Iwaizumi nods and steps away from the counter to walk to the dishwasher to grab the plates and cutlery; he grabs the table cloth while passing through the cabinet and walks to their small table to set it up.

Oikawa brings the food once Iwaizumi finishes what he’s doing and they sit down to eat. They have dinner together while talking about nothing in particular, going from Oikawa telling Iwaizumi about the new step of the project he’s leading in the lab to if they can save money enough to go watch one of the games of the J1 League in the stadium. 

After washing and drying the dishes, they sit on the couch to watch some horror movie, because it’s Friday and they have been watching horror movies on Friday since their middle school when they had to watch it hidden from their parents. Neither of them will admit that they hug each other through the movie because of the fear, oh no, they will always swear that it’s because they like to cuddle on their small couch.

“Today Sawamura invited me to go drink with Bokuto, Kenma and him.”, Iwaizumi says when they are already in bed, his head on the crook Oikawa’s armpit while his own arm is folded upwards so he can play with Oikawa’s fluffy strands.

“You should have gone…”, Oikawa says, caressing the side of Iwaizumi’s body with his thumb.

“It’s Friday.”, Iwaizumi simply says, but Oikawa understands. Friday is important to them, its part of their routine, of their normality.

“Go with them on the next time they invite you.”, Oikawa says, sighing when Iwaizumi caress behind his ear. “What is bothering you?”, he asks when Iwaizumi doesn’t say anything.

“It’s not really bothering me, it’s just that… Is it fair that we have to hide?”, Iwaizumi asks and he is thankful by the fact that it’s too dark inside the room to Oikawa to look at him. “I don’t think it’s funny to go out without you, but I don’t want to go out with you while pretending to be just friends anymore.”

Oikawa stays in silence for a while, the only thing indicating Iwaizumi that he hadn’t fallen asleep is the fact that Oikawa keeps caressing his ribs. “You wanna tell them?”

“I don’t know.”, Iwaizumi sighs heavily. “I want to, but at the same time I don’t wanna risk making you pass through the seven circles of hell again.”

“Hajime, last time it wasn’t your fault.”, Oikawa says firmly, squeezing Iwaizumi softly against his side.

“It wasn’t yours either, Tooru, but that doesn’t stop you from blame yourself.”, Iwaizumi retorts and Oikawa sighs deeply.

“Hajime…”, Oikawa whispers tiredly; tired not because it’s three in the morning but because he’s about to lose his silent battle against himself.

“No. Don’t ‘Hajime’ me.”, Iwaizumi cuts out. “We never talked about it, Tooru. And I’m not blind or stupid. I know you since you’re five, you dumbass, do you really think you can look into my eyes and lie to me and I’ll buy it?”

“No…”, Oikawa sighs, because he knew already that he wasn’t fooling Iwaizumi. He always knew that.

“You can’t blame yourself for other people being assholes.”, Iwaizumi says, staring at the ceiling. Talking to the dark air is easier than talk looking at Oikawa’s warm brown eyes.

“I was careless.”, Oikawa says, pain clear on his voice.

“You were happy. We were happy.”, Iwaizumi says firmly, because there’s no way he’ll let Oikawa convince him that what they did was wrong. “We’re not wrong for loving each other, Tooru… This is not a mistake.”

“I know!”, Oikawa quickly says, moving from his position from under Iwaizumi to be on top of him, turning on the nightstand lamp. “Hajime, I don’t think loving you or being with you is a mistake.”, he says, his eyes wide in panic because of the probability of Iwaizumi having the wrong idea.

“Good.”, Iwaizumi says, furrowed browns and slightly watery eyes. “I would headbutt you to the moon if you said what we have is wrong.”

“God, please, no.”, Oikawa says, lifting his hand to cup Iwaizumi’s cheek, caressing Iwaizumi’s cheekbone with the pad of his thumb. “If I ever did something right in my life was to kiss you in the back of the gym that day.”

“It was not your fault.”, Iwaizumi says, lifting his hands under Oikawa’s shirt on his back and making a soft pressure, just enough to Oikawa to understand and lean closer so they can kiss.

Oikawa doesn’t answer, deepening the kiss so Iwaizumi won’t talk again. Oikawa lean down enough to their chest to touch, Iwaizumi hugging him by his waist. They kiss for a while, slow and long kiss that make both of their breathes hard and loud. Eventually Oikawa lies back on the mattress and they hug each other, their bodies easily fitting on each other in the embrace.

“You can tell them if you want…”, Oikawa whispers in the small space between their lips.

“You sure?”, Iwaizumi asks also in a whisper, caressing Oikawa’s cheek with his thumb.

“If you think it’ll be alright, of course..”, Oikawa says, kissing Iwaizumi’s lips softly. “I’m ready for whatever happens. Besides, I trust your judgment.”

-

Iwaizumi spends the next three weeks trying to find the right moment to touch the subject of him not being straight, but he always gives up because he’s afraid of their reaction. It’s not that he thinks that they will have a bad reaction, because Iwaizumi has always being pretty good with reading people, but he can’t say he isn’t kind of traumatized because of what happened in Sendai.

He doesn’t like it, but fear paralyzes him and there’s nothing he can do.

-

“Iwaizumi?”, Kenma calls softly and Iwaizumi startles, almost jumping on his feet when he looks to his side and see Kenma sitting beside him on the couch.

“Kenma!”, Iwaizumi says, his eyes still wide open. “You scared me.”

“Sorry.”, Kenma says, his always monotonous tone doesn’t helping Iwaizumi on deciding if he really is. “You ok? You seemed distracted this past month.”

“Oh, I-Did I?”, Iwaizumi frowns, but he knows the truth.

“Yeah. Is something happening?”, Kenma asks, worried.

Iwaizumi looks at Kenma for a while, blinking softly because Kenma isn’t one to be talking. “Don’t worry… I’m just tired. Long week…”, Iwaizumi says, offering Kenma his best smile.

“Huh…”, Kenma nods, but he doesn’t seem convinced.”Next Friday we’ll have a small reunion at my house, just us… I would like you and your significant other to come, if that is ok.”

“Oh…”, Iwaizumi breathes, blinking slowly because of the surprise. He wasn’t expecting that. “I… Ok. I’ll see if it’s ok.”, he smiles at Kenma, but he can feel that his smile isn’t right.

He should tell Kenma, he knows, but he’s scared. What if Kenma reacts badly? What if Kenma gets disgusted? What if Kenma tells other people and Iwaizumi loses his job again? What if they are dragged back to the hell hole they were on their last month in Sendai? When Iwaizumi stops thinking about the “what if’s” the room is full with people and he can’t talk to Kenma privately anymore.

-

Oikawa isn’t home when Iwaizumi opens the door, so he closes it again. He’s too restless to stay alone inside their small apartment, so he goes for a walk. He ends up walking in circles around their block for almost one whole hour before he finally spots Oikawa walking up their street. Oikawa spots him back less than a minute later, speeding up his pace because Iwaizumi is walking back and forth in front of their building.

“Hajime?”, Oikawa calls when he’s close enough and Iwaizumi stops mid-step, turning around to look at him. “What hap…?”

“Kenma invited us to go to a small reunion on his house next Friday night.”, Iwaizumi blurts out, cutting Oikawa’s question.

Oikawa stares at Iwaizumi, his face slowly losing color because he _knows_ Iwaizumi hadn’t told his coworkers about them yet. “Let’s…. Let’s talk inside.”, he suggests and Iwaizumi nods.

They walk to inside the building together, going up in the elevator in dead silence from the first floor until the tenth. Iwaizumi opens the door, holding it open so Oikawa can enter before entering and locking it. They take off their shoes, walking to the living room and sitting on the couch, side by side, staring blankly at the curves of their television hack illuminated by the light coming from the window.

“You told him?”, Oikawa asks, his voice low.

“No.”

“Shit.”

“I know…”

They get up after a while, walking around the apartment while doing their own things. It’s just late at night, after they had a weirdly silent dinner and when they are already in bed that they finally touch the subject again.

“You wanna go?”, Iwaizumi asks.

“You think we should?”, Oikawa asks back. They are back against back on the bed, Oikawa staring at the wall and Iwaizumi at the city through the window, the lights of the other building showering their bedroom.

“I wanna try.”, Iwaizumi says after a while, turning around and touching his forehead on Oikawa’s nape. “I don’t wanna hide you anymore.”

Oikawa sighs deeply, slowly turning around and hugging Iwaizumi by his shoulders. “So we go.”

-

The trip to Kenma’s house is made under a thick tension, both of them nervous with what the night will reserve. They get a cab from the nearest train station, sitting on the back seat in silence through the twenty minutes drive. Iwaizumi is feeling sick and he almost asks for the driver to park on the side of the road so he can throw up, but he wants to show Oikawa that everything is fine because he can feel how anxious Oikawa is, so he swallows it dry and pretends he’s good.

Kenma’s house is surprisingly big for a university professor, modern looking and with a big front garden. They cross said garden by the granite path towards the pivoting door. They stop in front of the door, Iwaizumi lifting his hand to ring the bell when he feels Oikawa holding the back of his shirt. He laces Oikawa’s waist with his arm, holding him close as to say that everything is fine, and then finally rings the bell.

They can hear someone approaching the door, soft steps that seem to guide both of their heartbeats. The door is open to reveal Kenma’s small form, dressed in informal clothes and seeming more relaxed than Iwaizumi normally sees him.

“Oh, Iwaizumi.”, Kenma says, sounding pleasantly surprised.

“Good evening, Kenma.”, Iwaizumi smiles and Kenma smiles back, his eyes traveling up to Oikawa’s face and Iwaizumi can feel Oikawa tensing up in his arm. “This is my fiancé, Oikawa Tooru.”

“Nice to meet you.”, Oikawa greets, giving Kenma one of his well-trained perfect smiles.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too.”, Kenma nods softly, giving them space to enter the house. “Please, come in. There’s no need to take off the shoes, we’re going outside.”, he says as Iwaizumi and Oikawa step in.

“Oh, alright.”, Iwaizumi nods. “We didn’t know what to bring, so we bought a bottle of wine.”, he says and Oikawa hands Kenma a pretty package with a bottle of red wine inside.

“Thank you. This is really kind.”, Kenma says with one of his rare tiny smiles, holding the gift. “Come on.”, he calls, leading them through the big living room.

Kenma’s house has a clean aesthetic, with cream colored marble floor and big geometric white couches, a nice tall fireplace under a large curved television. The diner room across the living room has a long glass table with white chairs with steel backs on the sides, the headboard being occupied by white armchairs with steel feet, and a big chandelier hanging exactly over the center of the table. The back wall is made of big glasses panels with caramel wood frame and gives a nice view of the big backyard where the amorphous shaped pool lighted from underwater casts waves reflexes against the read-leaves trees, the pool waterfall making a constant white noise on the background. It’s a completely western-styled mansion.

They walk to the backyard, where there’s a fully equipped stainless steel external kitchen with kashmere white granite countertops, river stone walls and weathered light wood cabinets. A tall man with slightly messy black hair is by the sink washing something, blood-red apron tied to his hips and a burgundy dish cloth on his shoulder.

“Babe, Iwaizumi and Oikawa are here.”, Kenma says and the man stops what he’s doing, looking at them and smiling. “This is Kuroo Tetsurou, my husband.”, Kenma introduces.

“Oh.”, Iwaizumi breathes out, surprised.

“Hi! Welcome!”, Kuroo greets, closing the sink and walking towards them while drying his hands. “I would shake your hand, but mine are dirty with shrimp.”, he chuckles.

“Oh! Not a problem at all!”, Iwaizumi quickly says. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kuroo.”

“Nice to… Oh! I know you!”, Oikawa suddenly says, chestnut eyes widening. “You’re the gentle judge on Masterchef! And I watch your TV show every Sunday!”

“Yeah, that’s me!”, Kuroo laughs openly and now Iwaizumi recognize the cat-like eyes and grin.

“You cook so well! I’m so sorry for turning your recipes into a nightmare every time I try them.”, Oikawa says and Kuroo chuckles.

“I’m doing pasta with shrimp and pesto sauce. Wanna watch?”, Kuroo invites, walking back to the sink. 

“Can I?”, Oikawa asks, following when Kuroo nods.

“Help me with the wine, Iwaizumi?”, Kenma calls, placing his hand on Iwaizumi’s arm.

“Sure.”, Iwaizumi nods, still a little bit off.

“Bokuto went to the super market to buy some ingredients for Kuroo and Daichi will come after he finishes his last class.”, Kenma says, leading Iwaizumi into the house towards the stainless steel and white marble kitchen.

“Daichi has class until late tonight?”, Iwaizumi asks, because Daichi usually finishes at the same time as Iwaizumi on Friday. 

“Extra class because of the exams next week.”, Kenma explains, placing the wine on the countertop and opening the glass door cabinet to grab wine glasses.

“Hm.”, Iwaizumi hums in agreement. “Kenma, I… I’m sorry for… Huh…”, he starts, but doesn’t actually knows how to finish, because he isn’t sure for what he should apologize.

“It’s ok, Iwaizumi.”, Kenma says, placing the glasses one by one on the countertop. “You didn’t have the obligation to tell me about your sexuality.”

“Yeah, but I feel as if I should had told you.”, Iwaizumi sighs, grabbing the glasses Kenma hands him. “I tried a lot, to be honest.”

“Maybe just to calm down the nerves of both of you.”, Kenma says, grabbing the corkscrew. “I’m a psychologist and I teach behavioral analysis, Iwaizumi, I can tell when people are freaking out.”, he says when Iwaizumi widens his eyes.

“Oh, right.”, Iwaizumi nods, sighing. “Right.”

“Now, forget about it, let’s enjoy the night.”, Kenma says , walking out of the kitchen.

They walk back to the external kitchen where Kuroo is currently teaching Oikawa how to cut the shrimps. Iwaizumi is surprised to see Oikawa using his reading glasses, which indicates that he’s really serious on learning and Kuroo is calmly showing the right way, pointing things with the knife and giving Oikawa some tips. Iwaizumi opens the bottle of wine, serving the beverage while Kenma holds the glasses and they sit at the wood stools on the outside of the counter.

“Kuroo, where do I put the fruits?”, Bokuto asks from somewhere inside the house twenty minutes later, startling both Iwaizumi and Oikawa.

“In the fridge.”, Kuroo answers to inside the house. “Put into the right drawer!”, he adds quickly.

“Which one is the right drawer?!”, Bokuto asks from the kitchen.

“The one written ‘disposable garbage’, of course.”, Kuroo rolls his eyes.

“If he throws the fruits in the trash I won’t go out to buy more.”, someone says by the door and Iwaizumi knows this voice.

“Holy fuck, Akaashi Keiji.”, Iwaizumi breathes out, hearing Oikawa quietly squeaking by his side.

Akaashi Keiji is one of the most famous actors on Japan, well known by his works on vintage movies and for being the lead host of a music TV show every Wednesday night.

“Oh, hi.”, Akaashi smiles gently, a break of his serious public figure.

“Akaashi, these are Iwaizumi Hajime, our coworker, and his fiancé Oikawa Tooru.”, Kenma introduces and both Iwaizumi and Oikawa gets up to greet him.

“Oh my god!”, Bokuto says loudly from behind Akaashi. “Iwaizumi, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you’re engaged to Dr. Oikawa Tooru!”, he accuses, quickly walking towards Oikawa. “You’re a genius! I love your work! Your last article about the consequences of the global warming on the growth of moss is pure gold!”, Bokuto says excitedly and Iwaizumi watches delighted as Oikawa quickly changes from extremely pale to a scarlet shade of red.

“T-Thank you!”, Oikawa stutters, his eyes wide as if it’s the first time someone compliments his work; which is true if you consider the situation.

“I’m sorry about that.”, Akaashi says to Iwaizumi and Iwaizumi snorts amused.

“You kidding me? It has at least fifteen year since the last time I saw Tooru breaking like that… I owe Bokuto a beer.”, Iwaizumi grins, feeling honestly light because Oikawa is relaxed enough to drop his walls and blush.

“Well, that’s good then.”, Akaashi says in a calm tone.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, by the way. I really enjoy your work.”, Iwaizumi says with a smile.

“Thank you.” Akaashi smiles again and they both follow Kenma to the wicker chairs since the other three are engaged in a conversation about the moss and the climate changing. “I’m glad that everything went well, Bokuto was afraid of your reaction knowing about his sexuality.”

“Well, that makes two of us.”, Iwaizumi says honestly.

“To be completely honest, I think we don’t even know straight people.”, Kenma comments and Akaashi snorts but nods.

“You mean Daichi…?”, Iwaizumi asks, blinking surprised.

“Daichi recently got married to his lovely college crush, Sugawara Koushi.”, Kenma says, leaning against the back of the wicked couch, pulling his feet up on the white padding. 

“What’s the odds?”, Iwaizumi asks more to himself than to the other two, but they chuckle at his surprise.

“Keiji, want me to make you a drink?”, Kuroo asks from the door, drying his hands on the dish cloth again.

“Yeah, please.”, Akaashi smiles and Kuroo nods, entering the house.

Bokuto and Oikawa approach them while talking about something, Oikawa attentively listening to something Bokuto is saying. Oikawa sits on the armchair by the one Iwaizumi is sitting and Bokuto grabs a chair from the table behind the couch, sitting between Akaashi and Oikawa. They hear the blender noise coming from inside the house.

“I’m trying to help her, but my contacts inside the area she’s pursuing aren’t many.”, Bokuto says to Oikawa.

“Yeah, it’s a really close field.”, Oikawa agrees, holding Iwaizumi’s hand when he absently places his hand on Oikawa’s knee. “I can see if I hear something about this kind of internship where I work, but I can’t give you sure because sincerely I have no idea about this.”

They hear the bell being ringed and everyone looks at Kenma, that shakes his head. “Tetsurou is closer.”, he simply says.

A few minutes later Kuroo and Sawamura enter the backyard, followed by a man with silvery blond hair and gentle smile. Kuroo walks to Akaashi, handing him a glass with a rose colored drink.

“Iwaizumi!”, Daichi smiles, patting Iwaizumi shoulder affectionately. “Don’t need to get up, relax.”, Sawamura says when Iwaizumi starts to get up.

“Hey, how was class?”, Iwaizumi asks, patting Daichi’s hand on his shoulder. “This is Oikawa Tooru, my fiancé. Babe, this is Sawamura Daichi.”

“Hi, nice to meet you.”, Oikawa smiles easily.

“A lot of tears.”, Sawamura chuckles. “Hi, nice to meet you!”, he looks around, finding the silvery blonde man walking to Bokuto. “That one is my husband, Sugawara Koushi.”

“Hi!”, Sugawara greets happily, hugging Bokuto by his neck from behind, his chin against the top of Bokuto’s head. “I brought the drawings of your bedroom.”

“Yes!”, Bokuto says cheerfully.

“God, I’ll need more vodka.”, Akaashi says to Kuroo, sipping on his cocktail.

“Oh, c’mon, we’re not that bad.”, Sugawara chuckles, stepping away from Bokuto.

“Last time you two were talking about painting our walls with holographic ink.”, Akaashi deadpans and Sugawara smiles brightly at him.

“Koushi has an architecture firm.”, Sawamura explains, grabbing the chair that Sugawara hands him.

“He’s designing our new house.”, Bokuto says with a smile.

“He’s giving me gray hairs.”, Akaashi says flatly and everyone chuckles.

“It’s a really eclectic group.”, Oikawa remarks. “Is it because of the university?”

“Partially yes.”, Kenma nods.

“Tetsurou and Kenma are together since the beginning of times. Tetsurou met Keiji through television. Daichi, Suga and I went to the same university and we shared an apartment together with other friend of us that is now living in the US.”, Bokuto starts to count on his fingers. “I befriended Kenma at the university when we were doing doctorate and we became friends. I met Keiji on Tetsurou and Kenma’s wedding.”

“Then Kenma and I coincidentally started working at university at the same time and started talking to Koushi again because Tetsurou wanted a trustful architecture firm to build this house.”, Sawamura explains.

“And then Iwaizumi started working at the university too and you two are engaged and now our group is even bigger!”, Bokuto grins. 

“Oh.”, Iwaizumi chuckles, but nods. He didn’t know the story yet.

“What are you two story?”, Oikawa asks to Kuroo and Kenma.

“Childhood friends.”, Kenma softly says.

“I spent the our entire high school pining over him only to build up courage to kiss him two days before my graduation.”, Kuroo smiles, caressing Kenma’s hair.

“Oh my god, me too!”, Oikawa chuckles. “But it was after our last Inter High, I kissed Hajime behind the gym.”

“What did you guys play?”, Akaashi carefully asks.

“Volleyball.”, Oikawa says with fondness.

“Ok, this is getting ridiculous. It’s not possible that everyone in this group played volleyball at school.”, Sawamura laughs. “What were your positions?”

“I was a wing spiker and Tooru a setter.”, Iwaizumi says, chuckling.

“Yeah! Pretty setter squad!”, Sugawara exclaims, high fiving Oikawa.

“You were a setter too?”, Oikawa asked, grinning.

“We were.”, Sugawara says, pointing Akaashi and Kenma too.

“Bro, you better drag your ass back into a lab to find out if this shit is of being beautiful and setter a genetic trait”, Bokuto points at Kuroo. 

“Kuroo’s a geneticist.”, Sawamura tells Iwaizumi.

“I thought he was a chef?”, Iwaizumi frowns. 

“I’m both.”, Kuroo grins. “But anyways, I can’t believe we found another one, I thought Semi was the last one.”

“They’re surrounding us.”, Bokuto squints.

“Oikawa, I’ll need a blood sample.”, Kuroo jokes, getting up and walking to the kitchen part to put the pasta to cook.

“Can you check if I’m a mermaid? Hajime’s students seem to be convinced of it.”, Oikawa chuckles, turning his body to look at Kuroo, who laughs.

Akaashi gets up from the couch, walking to inside the house with his now empty glass. 

“Kids are really imaginative.”, Kenma says.

“I think its cute.”, Oikawa smiles softly, caressing the back of Iwaizumi’s hand.

“They are all crazy wanting to see the mermaid I’m engaged at.”, Iwaizumi chuckles.

“Are you planning on telling them?”, Bokuto asks, lifting his face to see Akaashi coming back, but the bell rings when he’s about to step into the backyard and he sighs and walks back to the door.

“I don’t know. We don’t have a good historic with people on our jobs finding out about our relationship.”, Iwaizumi sighs deeply and Oikawa occupies himself with the remaining wine on his glass.

“Oh…”, Bokuto says quietly.

“Hitoka, bring the pestle, please.”, Kuroo asks to inside the house and Iwaizumi turns his face to see a small blonde girl that he knows is Yachi Hitoka, Kuroo’s sous-chef, walking to inside the kitchen.

“We’ll need more chairs.”, Kenma says thoughtful, getting up to bring two more chairs to their circle. “Babe, should I set the table already?”

“Yeah, I think it’ll be better.”, Kuroo nods. “Kiyoko, there’s iced tea in the fridge”, he says to the black haired woman that steps into the backyard with Akaashi.

“Thank you, Tetsu.”, Kiyoko smiles softly. 

“Can I help you with the table, Kenma?”, Oikawa asks, getting up.

“Sure.”, Kenma nods. “How many of us are we?”, he asks, counting the guests.

“Kiyoko, these are Iwaizumi Hajime and Oikawa Tooru. Iwaizumi teaches at the university too.”, Sawamura introduces and this time Iwaizumi gets up.

“Nice to meet you.”, Kiyoko smiles and Oikawa waves her a hello before following Kenma to the kitchen.

“Kiyoko is Hitoka’s girlfriend. She’s a ballerina at the National Ballet of Japan.”, Bokuto says, getting up too and hugging Akaashi from behind.

“Wow. Everyone is really talented in this group.”, Iwaizumi remarks, looking as Oikawa helps Kenma with the plates and cutlery, chatting calmly with the always serious psychologist.

“Of course! Talented people attract each other, it’s a physical phenomenon. You’re a physics professor, you should know that. “, Bokuto grins and Iwaizumi snorts amused.

Yachi pass by them, carrying the stone pestle and walking towards Kuroo, greeting them quickly. Iwaizumi watches as she easily falls into place in the scenario, tying up her short hair and starting to work in synchrony with Kuroo. 

When Kenma and Oikawa finish ting up the table, they join the conversation and the group moves to near the kitchen so they can include Kuroo and Yachi too. They talk about many subjects, going from moving towns to pets Kuroo and Kenma should adopt because it’s a shame that they doesn’t have a dog running around in their huge backyard. As soon as Kuroo and Yachi finish the food they all move the conversation to the table.

For the rest of the night their conversation keeps going, more often than not the conversation involves all of them together, but from time to time they split in small groups to talk about some specific subject. It’s not a surprise that the food is amazing, Kuroo have being cooking in television since he was in college and being the only son of two internationally famous chefs he has being inside a kitchen since he was a little kid; and his synchronism with Yachi is amazing which makes the food be a work of art.

Between Akaashi’s backstage stories of famous movies and Iwaizumi explaining how it’s physically possible to Kiyoko to do what she does in the stage, the time pass without anyone noticing. It’s past midnight when they finally say goodbye to each other by the door, Iwaizumi and Oikawa thanking Kenma and Kuroo for the invitation and Kuroo assuring them that from now one they won’t even be invited, just notified because they’re now part of the group. 

Iwaizumi and Oikawa enter the taxi they had called, both a little bit tipsy because of the wine, but undeniably happy. Oikawa nestles warmly against Iwaizumi’s side, sighing contently when Iwaizumi starts to caress his fluffy strands. They don’t talk much through the ride back to their building or up to their apartment, but Oikawa dares to steal a kiss from Iwaizumi’s lips when they are in front of their door and Iwaizumi is searching for the keys.

“You seems happy.”, Iwaizumi says, closing the door after they entered the apartment.

“It’s the wine.”, Oikawa chuckles, kicking his shoes off and walking to the bedroom.

“It’s not, you drink like a norse god, there’s no way you’re drunk enough to be giggling around.”, Iwaizumi says and Oikawa giggles in response.

When Iwaizumi enters the bedroom Oikawa is already in their bed, dressed only with his underwear. Iwaizumi chuckles and takes out his shirt, tossing it aside. He crawls up the bed and over Oikawa, leaning down and kissing his lips, feeling one of Oikawa’s long legs wrap around his hips.

“I think we can make a home here…”, Oikawa whispers against Iwaizumi’s lips as if telling him a secret, but still giggling.

“As long as I’m with you, Tooru… I can make a home anywhere.”

**Author's Note:**

> Dude, I haven't write anything for them IN AGES. Is it ok? Can I write a good IwaOi?  
> I'M PRETTY NERVOUS ABOUT THIS, ALRIGHT???  
> Well, I would love to know what you thought about the story, so please tell me on the comments!!  
> Also, as always, you can reach me out on [tumblr](http://awishmaster.tumblr.com)!!!!  
> See you guys tomorrow!


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